Ford EcoSport owners keep getting together each weekend for quick informal meets and drive events around the country. Sometime back, it was the North India group that went to Bhangarh for example. Some of these are supported by the company itself. One of the best EcoSport groups come from Maharashtra and they decided to opt for a meet up early this month. Below is the account from one of the members itself:
This was the first drive of 2020 and we set off with two goals this time: 1) To cross a collective of 50 cars and 2) To spell FORD with our cars and take a picture. Both these have been our goal as a group admins for little over 6 months, however, it has been elusive so far, more to come on that later. Like any other meet, this started at the wee hours of a chilly Sunday morning. After catching up with the team at Vashi and Panvel (outskirts of Mumbai) we headed off to Sai River Resort. It is the same place we visited last time however we had a small change. Actually two small changes, 1) we took the old Mumbai Pune highway and 2) Instead of heading to the resort we headed directly to a ground close by for some pre-breakfast photo session.
So after meeting the final set of our participants from Panvel we headed off to the old Mumbai Pune highway. I was relatively surprised as the whole drive was, well eventless. The roads were nice, traffic was sparse and the music was exceptionally smooth. It was as leisure a drive as any and all I wanted to do was simply keep driving on the road. What made this even more interesting are my fellow drivers. I must applaud all the participants for showing a comrade that I only had the privilege of experiencing once before, and that was partly enforced. During our Panchgani drive, the Ford sponsored drive, one of the requirements was to make sure we drive in a single file and the lead car, aka - me, was always at the lead. While I say this was enforced, I also say the people that came for that drive did it without blinking an eyelid. They believed in the event and wanted it to be a beautiful experience. Well, this time around it was not enforced. Add to that it was not even advised to the people to drive in a single file. Once again I got the privilege of being the lead car to this group and as I drove all I could do was keep seeing in my rearview mirror. The sight of all the Ford Beauties lined up behind each other and swaying to the curve of the road, well for me it was heartwarming. The feeling of belonging to something bigger than self is an immensely humbling experience.
Now if you remember there were two things we have been trying to achieve for over 6 months. 1) get over 50 cars to participate in our drives. Well, this time around also we were short of 4 cars and had to settle for 46 cars participating in this drive. 2) to be able to write FORD with our cars. Now that was something we were able to cover in this drive. As we closed to the resort we actually headed off to a ground close by. The participants from Pune were already at the ground and were getting settled in and we joined them. Once we were here we had a quick brief primarily to thank everyone who made it this Sunday and to let them know what we were looking at achieve on this drive.
Dream 2. Everyone was pretty excited and what started off with admins trying to coordinate the whole execution very soon had close to the whole group participating with ideas and suggestions and coordinating the cars in to location. Finally after an hour of struggle and arranging and rearranging the cars we did it. We had 30 + cars beautifully arranged to spell out FORD and the remaining ones were used to underline the name. I still go back to the picture to see how it looked. Honestly when you are on the ground doing this, envisioning a view having no idea how the end product will come out however still believe in the process. Well, belief helps get your wishes fulfilled. When I saw the final product it was beautiful and with all the participants lined up it was a perfect icing on the cake.
Well it was time for us to head to the resort for our long overdue and well-deserved breakfast. So post the shoot-op we all heaeded to our final destination for the day. The resort, Sai River Resort definitely also needs a mention as this is the second time they have set shop for us and the food has been exceptionally good. So once here we got an opportunity to once again welcome all of the participants from Pune and Mumbai and thanked them for patiently waiting for us to complete the event as planned. And here comes the surprise, Ford India was kind enough to send goodies for us once again. This time around they sent across an animated book and a #discovermoreinyou thumb band. The Thumb band was a promise to avoid honking unnecessarily. And so it was time to bid our byes, after an eventful morning we were grateful for all participants the ones who make it worth our effort to plan these drives.
However this time around the new entrants and members of the drive also felt the Ford tagline #familywalifeeling even if it was their first drive with us. With that, we promised for a meet once again during the monsoon and until we meet then #discovermoreinyou #happymotoring #fordindia #fordecosport #tomakingmorememories
